Distribution and Effect of some Heavy Metals in Selected Organs and Tissues of Albino Rats Exposed to Vehicular Exhaust Fumes

Vehicular exhaust fume has been greatly implicated as one of the major environmental pollutants all over the world, especially in developing nations. A study was carried out to investigate heavy metals distribution and effect on the soft tissues of Albino rats placed in close proximity to busy roads in Abeokuta. A total of 45 rats were randomly allotted to 3 groups of fifteen rats each. Two groups were placed in close proximity to busy roads while the third group (Control) was kept in Forestry Nursery of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Ogun State for 8 weeks respectively. The various organs were removed, digested by standard procedures and analyzed for heavy metals (Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn, Pd and Co) with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The result show a significantly higher concentration of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Pd and Co) (p<0.05) in the lung, heart and liver tissues of the rats at busy roads compared to control. Histopathological examination of internal organs (heart, lung, kidney and liver) of rats at busy roads revealed histopathological damage as compared to the control. The results above indicated that vehicular exhaust fumes may have adverse physiological effects on the rats and hence humans living in close proximity to busy roads will be predisposed to automobile pollution

E-INVIGILATION: PANACEA TO EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN NIGERIA

e- Invigilation is the use of remote-controlled terminals that are linked with the main servers of any institutions. E-invigilation is very important in managing both offline and online invigilation of examinations. This is vital for eradicating examination malpractice on the part of the students. There is a disenchantingly slow evolution of ICT use in the invigilation of students in the Nigerian educational school system. The main roles of ICT in education are to provide the prospects and trends of integrating communication technology into the educational processes. Hence, one of the vital areas of incorporating ICT is in the invigilation of examination in order to bring to fore its effectiveness. In reality, an efficient and effective system of the invigilation process is essential in increasing the credibility of the entire educational assessment in Nigeria. This fundamental area constitutes an inevitable reality in modern education, especially with security of examinations in mind that attracts the law of morality. The method of data analysis incorporates both descriptive and logistic regression modeling. Therefore, Invigilation should not be played down with regard to the issues of assessment. The study proposes a model that is relevant for e-invigilation, discusses the pros and cons of einvigilation in system of education in Nigeria and makes policy recommendations towards incorporating e-invigilation in the educational system of higher education in Nigeria

DIGESTIVE ENZYMES IN AFRICAN GIANT LAND SNAIL (ARCHACHATINA MARGINATA) DURING AESTIVATION

The activities of digestive enzymes in the gut regions of African giant land snail, Archachatina marginata were investigated during aestivation induced in the laboratory by the withdrawal of water and food for three weeks. All studied enzymes, amylase, α-glucosidase, cellulase, lipase, and protease, were detected on the gut regions (oesophagus, crop, stomach and intestine). Aestivated snails had significantly lower enzyme activities in all the gut regions than the active snails. Furthermore the stomach recorded the highest enzyme activities of all the gut region

Formation and composition of epiphragm in three giant African land snails (Archachatina marginata, Achatina fulica and Achatina achatina)

Aestivation is the state of dormancy that occurs in snails when the weather condition is harsh, either dry season or warm season. During this period, the giant African land snails form epiphragm, sealing the aperture of the shell which serves as water preservative strategies, preventing mechanical damage of the inner soft tissues. A study on the formation and mineral composition of the epiphragm in three species of giant African land snails namely: Achatina achatina, Achatina fulica and Archachatina marginata was carried out. Twenty matured snails were used for this experiment. They were induced into aestivation by withdrawing food and water. The snail weight, shell length, aperture length, and epiphragm weight were measured during aestivation as well as duration of epiphragm formation. The ionic concentration (calcium, iron and phosphorus) of the epiphragm was also analyzed. The morphometric analysis showed that A. marginata formed the heaviest epiphragm while the least was formed by A. fulica during aestivation. Analysis of the ions revealed that calcium was the most abundant ion in the epiphragm of the snails. Comparison of mean values reveals that A. achatina has the highest ionic composition in the epiphragm when compared to other species. Regression analysis (r2) revealed that a positive relationship existed between the aperture length and days for epiphragm formation (+0.62) on one hand and between weight of epiphragm formed and the days of its formation on the other hand (+0.77)

A 12-month prospective study of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome incidence and outcomes at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Background: Peritoneal sepsis is a life-threatening emergency, more so in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where immediate hospital presentation for much needed urgent surgical care is the exception rather than the norm. Continued research into the multifactorial aetiopathogenesis responsible for the high level of morbidity and mortality is necessary. We aimed to determine the incidence of intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in patients presenting with generalized peritonitis in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a prospective study involving recruitment of consenting patients managed for generalized peritonitis over 12 months. Results: Fifty-seven consenting and appropriate patients were recruited over the course of the study and managed as per study protocol. The duration of symptoms ranged between 11 hours and 7 days. All patients had varying degrees of IAH and ACS at presentation with generalized peritonitis. A laparotomy with definitive surgery was done in 51 patients (89%), with 6 patients (11%) having only a bedside peritoneal drain inserted for decompression. Significant improvement of the respiratory rate (P &lt; 0.001), oxygen saturation (P = 0.041), and urinary output (P = 0.021) only occurred after decompression by laparotomy or tube drainage. The consecutive mean ± standard deviation (SD) intra-abdominal pressures measured, respectively, at presentation, immediately postsurgery, then postoperatively at 6 h, 24 h, and 72 h reflected significant improvement at each point (respectively in cmH2O: 11.4 ± 6.03, 6.58 ± 5.58, 5.78 ± 3.29, 4.73 ± 2.86, 6.72 ± 5.18; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: IAH and ACS are not uncommon in our setting, and ACS at presentation is a significant predictor of mortality in patients with peritoneal sepsis. Surgical decompression invariably leads to an improvement in all clinical variables investigated. Keywords: intra-abdominal hypertension; abdominal compartment syndrome; peritonitis; laparotomy; percutaneous catheter decompression; Nigeria

EXPLORING SOURSOP KERNEL AS A SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL: ANALYZING PHYSICAL AND SOLID FLOW PROPERTIES FOR FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT

&nbsp;&nbsp;Soursop kernel is an oil-bearing seed containing about 25% non-edible oil per 100 g sample making it a potential feedstock for biofuel production. However, exploring the full potential of the oil requires data to design and fabricate appropriate machines for its processing. So, this necessitates a thorough examination of its physical and solid flow behaviour in relation to moisture contents. The experiments conducted on rewetted samples revealed that as moisture content (mc) increased from 8% to 32.5% dry basis (db), the length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, volume, surface area, sphericity, and thousand kernels weight increased from 11.40-12.06 mm, 7.04-7.92 mm, 4.58-5.34 mm, 7.69-8.44 mm, 7.12-7.49 mm, 6.5–8.13 cm3, 160.19-199.05 mm2, 0.62- 0.66 and 186.4–291 g, respectively. The true density decreased from 720 to 670 kg/m³, whereas the bulk density increased from 470 to 570 kg/m³. The angle of repose linearly increased from 25.8° to 39.2° as moisture content increased. The highest mean values for coefficients of friction were observed on mild steel surfaces (0.44 for static and 0.53 for dynamic) at 8.0% mc (db) while the lowest values were recorded on stainless steel surfaces (0.20 for static and 0.37 for dynamic) at both 32.5% and 8.0%, (mc, db). The data obtained will prove beneficial to engineers in the design and development of appropriate machines, as well as other handling and processing equipment such as oil expellers, so as to explore the full industrial application of the oil for biodiesel production and other chemical productio

Tumor-reactive immune cells protect against metastatic tumor and induce immunoediting of indolent but not quiescent tumor cells

Two major barriers to cancer immunotherapy include tumor-induced immune suppression mediated by myeloid-derived suppressor cells and poor immunogenicity of the tumor-expressing self-antigens. To overcome these barriers, we reprogrammed tumor-immune cell cross-talk by combined use of decitabine and adoptive immunotherapy, containing tumor-sensitized T cells and CD25+ NKT cells. Decitabine functioned to induce the expression of highly immunogenic cancer testis antigens in the tumor, while also reducing the frequency of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and the presence of CD25+ NKT cells rendered T cells, resistant to remaining myeloid-derived suppressor cells. This combinatorial therapy significantly prolonged survival of animals bearing metastatic tumor cells. Adoptive immunotherapy also induced tumor immunoediting, resulting in tumor escape and associated disease-related mortality. To identify a tumor target that is incapable of escape from the immune response, we used dormant tumor cells. We used Adriamycin chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which simultaneously induce tumor cell death and tumor dormancy. Resultant dormant cells became refractory to additional doses of Adriamycin or radiation therapy, but they remained sensitive to tumor-reactive immune cells. Importantly, we discovered that dormant tumor cells contained indolent cells that expressed low levels of Ki67 and quiescent cells that were Ki67 negative. Whereas the former were prone to tumor immunoediting and escape, the latter did not demonstrate immunoediting. Our results suggest that immunotherapy could be highly effective against quiescent dormant tumor cells. The challenge is to develop combinatorial therapies that could establish a quiescent type of tumor dormancy, which would be the best target for immunotherapy

Are Men’s Reproductive Health Problems and Sexual Behavior Predictors of Welfare?

The study examined men’s reproductive health problems and sexual behavior and their implications for men’s welfare in Nigeria. It used the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data set of 2013. The analysis used only male recode files, representing 17,359 males. The dependent variable is the computed wealth index, which was selected as proxy for welfare condition. Analysis involved univariate and multivariate levels. The findings indicated that 49.3% of the respondents currently have more than one sexual partner. The total lifetime sexual partner index identifies 70.2% of the men interviewed have had at least two sexual partners in their lifetime. It revealed that men who experience reproductive health challenges, such as sexually transmitted infections and genital ulcer, are 44% and 93%, respectively, less likely to enjoy good welfare condition. It also indicated that men in urban area are 7.256 times more likely to enjoy good welfare condition compared with their rural counterparts. There is a negative association between total lifetime sexual partnerships and exposure to good welfare. The study concludes that social workers, marriage counselors, other health personnel, and policy makers need to focus on the practice of multiple sexual partnership and reproductive health diseases as major determinants of men’s welfare. The authors suggest that the index of welfare should include reproductive health issues and indicators of sexual behavior. Also, there is need for the establishment of specialized reproductive health care services and centers that are accessible to all men for effective servicing of reproductive health needs of men in the country